The Albanese government has ruled out decisively giving the tech giants a “text and data mining” exemption. This recent decision has excited supporters and dismayed opponents from every sector. This action follows many months of intense advocacy from all corners of the tech industry. It comes on the heels of conversations initiated by the Productivity Commission’s August interim report into how to best use data and digital technology.
Federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has meanwhile highlighted that the government is focused on upholding the independent interests of the arts sector. As she pointed out, work on this issue is far from finished. This further underlines the government’s intentions to make sure artists, media companies and creatives of all kinds are properly compensated for their output.
Environment Minister Murray Watt was quick to confirm that. Thus, McCarthy made clear that the government is conceding nothing on the point of providing an exemption for text and data mining. This decision contributes to the government’s broader objective of strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights. It also understands the dangers that artificial intelligence (AI) poses under our current legal regime.
The Australian Copyright Act is often regarded as robust, but it requires adaptations to meet the challenges that AI presents. It’s great to see the Albanese government recognize that as technology changes, so should the laws that protect creative work.
This important process ensures IP rights are upheld for innovators as AI technology continues to evolve at a dizzying pace. There are serious lingering questions about how strong—and how effectively enforced—these new protections will be. Digital Rights Watch spokesperson Tom Sulston called for stronger protections. He agrees that these protections need to include all Australians’ social media data, private information and biometric data.
“The Albanese Government are a strong supporter of our arts community and we recognise that they deserve their fair share for their efforts in producing product, as do media organisations. One of the things that we know about AI is that while it can produce enormous productivity gains and many benefits for us on a personal level, we also need to have proper safeguards in place to make sure that in this case artists, media organisations, creatives get their fair share from their work and that’s why we will not be providing an exemption for what’s known as text and data mining for AI companies.” – Federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland
The federal government has come down firmly on the side of copyright law. In doing so, they’re promoting talent and supporting artists, creators and rights holders,” announced Anna Bell, chief executive of the Australian Recording Industry Association. They don’t want to see our copyright laws watered down and made ineffective. They will ensure that a handful of big tech companies don’t get free and easy access to important cultural works.
Creation of a small claims forum Copyright enforcement for lower-value infringements arguably would benefit from a small claims–style copyright forum. As it stands now, the enforcement process for copyright infringement is drawn out and expensive, frequently discouraging creators from pursuing justice.
The federal government is leading the charge to find equitable legal frameworks for copyright use. They’re considering the possibility of a new collective licensing framework, or even a voluntary framework. These measures would provide welcome guidance on how copyright law applies to content produced by Australian authors through AI technology.
Something Watt is hoping for is a new right to delete provision in the next federal Privacy Act review. Such a shift would give people increased power to revoke consent for companies to use their data for secondary purposes.
Watt has also advocated for a right to delete provision in the upcoming Privacy Act review, which would allow individuals to revoke permission for companies to use their data for purposes beyond the original intent.
“So we’re calling for a right to delete provision in the upcoming Privacy Act review that will allow us to say, hey, you know, I gave a company some data because we were doing some business together, and now I want to revoke that permission, and they are not allowed to use my data for whatever other purposes they might be putting it to.” – Environment Minister Murray Watt
